Umbrella



Nov. 16, 1948.

S. J. HEANEY UMBRELLA 2 Sheetse-Sheet 1 r s x f m m 1 I o w A 7/, DJ H F m a H 3 J v I w m m @w 5 W R4 1 m F.

S. J. HEANEY Nov. 16, 1948.

UMBRELLA 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :l'l'llllllllulllllll l|ll|lllllllllll law Filed July 29, 1 947 Inventor Samuel J. Heaney B fimaalfin am 5 M Fig. 4.

Patented Nov. 16, 1948 Nit a arm as. ea -r: em 0. tries UMBRELLA Samuel J.- Heaney, Portlanddflreg. Application July 29, 1947, SerialNo. 7.643503 3-Claims.

i This invention. relates generally to: umbrellas; and. more particularly to. an umbrella handle including "a" tubular standard having aslot and a system of lazy tongs.operativelymountedzwith in: said standard and connected to'a sleeve .on the standard: by apin extending throughatheslot, together'with a finger lever adapted for actuation ofrthe lazy ton system, whereby the umbrella: can-be opened and closed.

A primary object of this invention is 'to'provide. an: umbrella handle having mechanism incorpo rated therewith to allow the umbrella to be opened'and' closed by one hand, while this same hand is used to support the umbrella.

Another object ofthis invention is to provide a h'andlestructure which may be incorporated with various types of umbrellas, parasol's and:

the like, the umbrella or parasol being provided with meansto lock the same in opened position, and being held in closed position by spring means.

Another salient object of this invention is to provide an: umbrella" handle with a hand grip disposed normally to the standard of the device, and to-incorporate the finger lever which is disposed inparallel relation with this hand grip when the umbrella or parasol is in opened position.

Anda last object to bespecifically mentioned is to provide a device of this character which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, completely practical in design, extremely convenient and easy to operate and to use, and. which; will give generally eflicientand. durable service,

With these objects definitely in view, this in- U ventionresides in certain novel features of construction, combination andarrangement ofparts and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in the specification and more clearly pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings which form a material part of this I specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of an umbrella featuring the instant invention, the figure being foreshortened and broken away in part, to show the underlying structure, in order to more fully disclose the nature of this invention;

Figure 2 is another side elevational view of the major portion of the structure shown in Figure 1, the view being taken as from the left hand side of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 in Figure 2; and,

Figure 4 is a view of the major portions of this invention; the standardrbeing shown inihorizontal.

cross-section and:the View'being taken" from the line 4-4 in Figure 3.

Similar characters of reference designate similaror identical parts and portions throughout -structed of any suitable flexible material, the

spider terminal ofconventional design which will be secured to the upper end of the standard It.

underneath the cover Ill, as indicatedat M; to.- get-her with a suitable number of conventional stays l6 andlinks Iii-secured at the outer ends thereof pivotally-to the intermediate portions of the stays IS.

The lower or inner ends of the links l8 are pivotally'secured. in regularly spaced relation to a spider. sleeve 20"which is provided with a plu rality of paired bracket members 22 and pins 2 1 which are inserted through the said lower or inner ends. of thelinks. [8. This spider sleeve 25! has an internal opening conforming in shape and size withthe exterior cross-sectional dimensions oft'he standard :21 The drawings illustrate the standard 12 which is tubular and ellipsoid: in cross-section, as best illustrated in Figure 4, and the sleeve 2!! is illustrated with a central opening conforming with this shape of standard. The standard is longitudinally slotted as at 25 and is then bent at. right angles adjacent one end thereof to: provide a hand grip 28; If the standard is of a reasonably small cross-sectional size, the hand'grip,28:may be of a greater diameter than the standard and the enlargement of the hand grip'may beaccomplished' by provision of a hand grip. member-secured to the right angularly bent portion of the standard. The drawings illustrate a hand grip member '38 of a cross-sectional size comparable'to'the size of the standard, but the relative sizes of these parts is a matter of individualupreferment and mechanical expediency.

lazy tong system is mounted within'the lower end of the standard l2, the laz tongs being indicated generally at 30. The component levers 32 may each be of a length only slightly less than the corresponding internal dimension of the standard. It is preferred that this dimension be the dimension of the longer of the two major axes when a standard of ellipsoid cross-section is used. The center pivot pins 34 are of a length greater than the dimension of the shorter of the major axes of the standard so that the ends of these pins extend through the slots 26 in the standard. It is within the purview of this invention to provide onl one such slot 26 and to shorten certain of the center pins 34. The essential feature of this portion of the invention is that a suflicient number of pivot pins 34 are slidably associated with the standard l2 to guide the lazy tongs axially of the.standard I 2 when the same are actuated. The lowermost of the center pins 34 is pivotally secured to a finger lever 36, and one end of this lever is pivotally secured to one of the pivots at the ends of the levers 32, as clearly indicated in Figure 3. The lowermost of the levers 32 is secured to a slotted bracket 38 provided internally or the standard I2, and a.

helical spring 40 is tensioned between another bracket member 42 on the handle portion of the standard and the adjacent pivot pin joining the end of the lever 36 to the lazy tong system, as at 42. In order that the spring will not foul the lazy tong system when the same is in expanded position, the link 44 may be inserted between the pivotal connection 42 and the corresponding end of the spring 40. r

The lever 36 may be constructed with an un dulating surface 46 to fit the fingers of the user and the outer end of the lever is notched as at 48 for engagement with a hook 59 on the end of a rod 52 slidably mounted within the hand grip 28 by means of brackets 54 or any other suitable means. The inner end of this rod 52 is outwardly bent and knobbed as at 56 and this outwardly bent portion is accommodated by a 'slot 58 in the hand grip 2B. The knob 56 is, of

course, disposed exteriorly of the slotted portion. In order that the hook 50 may be biased into lever locking position, in engagement with the slot 48 on the end of the lever, a spring 60' is compressed between the end of the rod 52 and a cap 52 which is secured in any suitable manner to the outer end of the hand grip 58. Spring-locating pins 64 are provided on the rod 52 and on the interior surface of the cap 52 to prevent the mis-alignment of the spring 60.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connection with the above recitation of the objects sought to be achieved by this invention, but in recapitulation, it should be noted that when the lever 36 is in the position indicated in Figure 3, the lazy tongs 30 are compressed under the action of the spring 49, while the spider sleeve 20 is moved into a position holding the umbrella or parasol in closed position. When the lever 36 is pulled b the fingers of the user into parallel relation with the hand grip 28 the lazy tong system is extended, forcing the sleeve 20 in a direction to cause the links I8 to distend the stays l6 and the cover Hi.

When the lever 36 is in parallel relation with the hand grip 29 the hook 50 will be snapped into engagement with the lever bymeans of the spring 60, and releasing of this lever in order to allow the umbrella or parasol to close is accomplished by movement of the knob 56 as to the left in Figure 1.

Though there has been shown a particular embodiment of the present invention, this application is not limited to this particular embodiment, but it is desired to include in the scope of this invention, the construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An umbrella handle including a tubular standard having a slot, a sleeve on said standard, lazy tongs operatively mounted within said standard and connected to said sleeve by a pin extending through said slot, means to actuate said lazy tongs to slide the sleeve along the standard, said means including a finger lever pivoted on said standard, and spring means connected to said standard and to said lazy tongs to bias the lazy tongs into collapsed position.

2. An umbrella handle including a tubular standard having a slot, a sleeve on said standard, lazy tongs operatively mounted within said standard and connected to said sleeve by a pin extending through said slot, means to actuate said lazy tongs to slide the sleeve along the standard, said means including a finger lever pivoted on said standard, spring means connected to said standard and to said lazy tongs to bias the lazy tongs into collapsed position, said standard having a hand grip, and said lever being disposed parallel to said hand grip when in one position.

3. An umbrella handle including a tubular standard having a slot, a sleeve on said standard, lazy tongs operativel mounted within said standard and connected to said sleeve by a pin extending through said slot, means to actuate said lazy tongs to slide the sleeve along the standard, said means including a finger lever pivoted on said standard, spring means connected to said standard and to said lazy tongs to bias the lazy tongs into collapsed position, said standard having a hand grip, and said lever being disposed parallel to said hand grip when in one position, and locking means to releasably hold said lever in said position.

SAMUEL J. HEANEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Hill Jan. 4, 1898 Hole July 6, 1915 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Number 

